The Florida Panthers are nearing a five-player trade for New Jersey Devils goaltender Jacob Markstrom, and Evan Rodrigues is expected to be part of the return. The reported deal would send Rodrigues, Jesper Boqvist and Ben Steeves to New Jersey, while Florida would receive Markstrom and Angus Crookshank.
That is the kind of move that lands on a busy day because it changes more than one roster at once. Rodrigues, Boqvist and Crookshank each have one year left on their contracts, while Steeves is set to become a restricted free agent, which gives Florida a way to manage the pieces without taking on extra salary in the trade. Markstrom carries a $6 million cap hit, and no salary was retained on his contract.
The timing is what makes this stand out. The Panthers had already added Akira Schmid from the Vegas Golden Knights on Monday, and they are now pushing ahead with another move in the crease even as Sergei Bobrovsky is set to hit the open market on Wednesday. That leaves Florida building fast around its goaltending plan while the market around it is still shifting.
Markstrom brings a clear track record, even if the numbers have moved around. He recorded 23 wins and a.883 save percentage in 44 appearances this season, after signing a two-year, $12 million contract with New Jersey in October 2025. Before that, he had 11 wins and a.898 save percentage in 43 games with the Panthers, and his best season came in 2021-22 with Calgary, when he finished with 37 wins, a.922 save percentage and a league-leading nine shutouts.
The one part that does not fit neatly is the cost. A trade built around a goaltender usually centers on cap space or draft value, but Florida is sending out a regular forward in Rodrigues, a younger NHL forward in Boqvist and a prospect in Steeves to land Markstrom and Crookshank. Even after Tuesday’s move, the Panthers are not merely adding a goalie; they are rearranging the forward side of the roster to make the math work and to keep the deal from pushing past the ceiling.
If the trade is completed as reported, Florida will have turned a single goaltending pursuit into a five-player reset, with Rodrigues at the center of the return to New Jersey. What remains open is the official filing, but the shape of the move already points to a Panthers team choosing certainty in goal over the comfort of standing still.
